For the past 12 years, the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd has doggedly tracked and harassed Japanese whalers who it claims are working illegally in the Southern Ocean. Now, the group made famous by the documentary-style TV series Whale Wars says it’s halting its sea-based patrols, claiming it cannot compete…

Earlier today, four ships from Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research returned to their home port after a “scientific” expedition to the Antarctic region. The fleet claims to have captured 333 minke whales—including pregnant females—in blatant disregard of an international ruling.

Last month, quiet beachfront communities on both sides of the North Sea were rocked by the sight of sperm whales washing up dead on their shores. It was one of the largest strandings in recent history—but according to marine biologists, there may be an upside.

International whaling bans have been in effect since the early 1980s, but many populations have been slow to recover. Using the current International Whaling Commission database and other sources, a new study helps explain why. Basically, we killed a lot more whales than we realized.

Humpback whales can be found all over the world's oceans, despite the
heavy beating they took in the era of industrial whaling. They undertake one of the longest annual migrations feeding at high latitudes and breeding near the equator. But there's one peculiar group of humpbacks who live life a bit differently.

Not for nothing are Orcas called Killer whales, but reports of their hunting the "great" whales (baleen & sperm whales) have been rare, and there is little consensus as to the importance of such predation. But new evidence suggests that Humpback whale calves are a regular snack for the black and white killers.

Last month, the International Court demanded an end to Japan's research whaling program, and Japan said it planned to abide by the ruling. But now, the Japanese government has explained just what that means... including plans to resume whaling in the Antarctic by 2015.

The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has released a disturbing video showing four dead minke whales aboard a Japanese whaling vessel located in protected waters. Conservationists are outraged at the Australian government which doesn't appear to be doing anything about it.

The Antarctic region has been home to numerous fishing villages, whaling stations, scientific bases, and way stations for exploration. Many of these facilities have since been abandoned, left to the snow and ice. But they still serve as remarkable time capsules to the industries and expeditions of their times.

The humpback whale is one of Earth's largest creatures, with an average weight of around 40 tons. But as it turns out, this gigantic creature is vulnerable to the toxins of a much smaller living thing: Aconitum delphinifolium, better known as Larkspur monkshood.

Built in 1841, you'd expect that the last ever wooden whaling ship would need a bit of patching up by now. Luckily, state-of-the-art 3D laser systems are on hand, able to scan for weak structural points in need of fixing.

Oh. Dear. The Ady Gil trimaran, used by the Sea Shepherd organization to hunt down whalers, got itself an unexpected rhinoplasty yesterday, while buzzing around Japanese whaling vessel, the Shonan Maru, in the Antarctic waters of Commonwealth Bay.

Regardless of your feelings about whaling, you have to admit the fight just got a whole lot more interesting. Check out this video of a Sea-Shepherd-manned (from Whale Wars) carbon-fiber, biofuel-powered EarthRace Trimaran blinding a Japanese whaling boat with lasers.

Last we heard from Earthrace, the super sleek 78-ft. power boat that runs on its captain's fat, it was circumnavigating the globe. Today, the ship has a new Batman paint job and a new mission: Hunting whalers.

Timur Bekmambetov will be revisiting superpowered assassins with his sequel to Wanted, but he's already looking to his next project, a contemporary adaptation of Moby Dick. But this being Bekmambetov, his whales and whale hunters will have their own superpowers.